New Tank Setup

Kiel'thalin

Kiel'thalin

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Jun 12, 2006
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Here is my setup:
46 Gallon Tank
Emperor 400 Bio Wheel
Maxi-Jet 1200 Pump
250W Heater
20lbs Sand
25lbs Live Rock
Dual flouresent with one bulb an actinic.
3 Greeen Damsel Chromis

I am pretty new at the salt water tanks, had to rely on my Local Fish Shop to give me a run-down on what all it will take to get it to cycle. I put the tank together on the 11th. I am seeing that the Damsel in a fresh built tank is kinda cruel, so I went back to the store to see if they wanted them back after I told him I didn't want to stress out the little guys, he made it clear that they are pretty tough fish. Anyways, I have everything setup, is there any recommendation for the setup I have?
Such as where to aim my maxi-jet (295 gph) and how much air do I want that thing pumping out?
Do I need to switch to a different filter system?
Also is it recommended to mount the heater down in the tank across the bottom?
Also is that enough rock and is it placed well enough to get a reef going?
I think that covers some minor details that I am having some trouble with. Thanks for all the help.

Pic of tank:
New_SW_Tank.jpg
 
well i would still return the damsel, see if you could for store credit. Yes, they are tough and many survive, but it is jsut cruel. You are placing them in a toxic environment.
i would get at least one more maxi jet. Aim them in a place that doesnt get a lot of flow. I like to have it going in a kind of circular motion so there is always water flow everywhere. and make sure to point at least one so it is creating a lot of rippling at the surface. Dont make any air go through it.
your iflter system is fine. But i would recomend getting a protein skimmer
As far as the heater, it doesnt matter too much, but i would point it vertical so if you place it in an area of your tank with low flow on the bottom, it will still function.
as far as the rock, 1-2 pounds a gallon is recomended. I would serch for your local reef club. many people in mine sell mature live rock for only 2 bucks a pound. right now i have about 40-50 pounds in my 29 flowlr, and between 90-100 in mmy 40 breeder. But some people go less. but you definatly need more.
good luck
 
I 100% agree with (fishieness) i looked@this thread earlyer & i really did not know where 2 start but (fishieness) sum`s it up..............
 
IME, "green damsel chromis" are not hardy, and niether are most damsels(or at least not as hardy as they are believed to be), although this could just be my LFS's livestock.
 
If you haven't yet, I would try to look at different aquarium set-ups if you can to kind of give you an idea about the rockwork. Arrange it so that it is pleasing to your eyes. Hopefully, that will include lots of nooks/crannies/caves, etc for fish to swim in/out of, hide in and maybe sleep in. The more rock you have, the less water you have for the fish to swim in.

If you are going to keep the chromis in there to do your cycling, I would, personally, increase the number of water changes to try and keep ammonia/nitrites down, maybe every two-three days or so, maybe help those guys a little. I would also add something similar to "Cycle" to help with the cycle. They need all of the help they can get. I'm just trying to give you a couple of ideas to cut down, hopefully, on the severity of the cycle.

Good Luck, Frank
 
I have added the following:
More Live rock for a total of 35-40lbs
Protein Skimmer
Kept the 3 fish (I tested the water and found 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and 0 nitrate, I am testing every other day with same results).
4 hermit crabs
4 snails
Had to add the cleaning crew because algae was getting out of hand, I had to take a brush and gently remove a lot of it from my live rock. Also getting brown algae on the glass. There are bristleworms in my live rock. I am thinking about adding an arrow crab and using the tweezer method to rid these things before they get too big and problematic. Is that a good idea to add the arrowcrab, or do they not get the worms? I think that about covers it, other than the algae and bristleworm problem, things are going good. Thanks for your help.
 
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To me, bristle worms are not a problem. I have added maybe a half dozen or so the last couple of months (did not have any before) from my lfs. I specifically asked him to add some with my other purchases of snails. He actually got a tweezer out and threw some into the baggie. I haven't seen any of them since I threw them into the tank. Hope they are still around somewhere.

This is just my feelings/opinions only. I like them.

Frank
 
almost all bristle worms are benificial scavengers. only a few of the thousands of speacies will eat corals and those are pretty rare in the aquarium hobby. You do hear of it every once in a while, but that is because whenever someone sees one, EVERYONE posts about it.
just wondering, what kind of skimmer was it?
 
oh, and PS: feeding less or less at a time will decrease their numbers as well as the algae. If you are supplying less food to them, their number will dwindle. But you can feed the fish the same amount. Just dont dump everything you have in there so they eat it all, then put a little more in.
 
Thanks again, I was just worried about the bristleworms taking over. I have been feeding my 3 chromis frozen shrimp and flakes alternating between the two, I just give them enough so that no food falls to the bottom or gets sucked into my filter.
My skimmer was a used pieced from my LFS that they had setup on a tank, it was an older C.P.R. bak-pak design and sells around $130 for the new style, this one only cost me $50, I cleaned it all up placed in the tanks and works wonderfully. I do need to modify the return overflow to reduce the amount of splashing that causes some bubbles, other than that I am happy with it.
 
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